The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has spent 100m kyat ($75,200) on submitting complaints to election officials about supposed “irregularities” in almost 200 constituencies where the National League for Democracy (NLD) won seats last month.
Party spokesperson Yin Min Myint Swe said that although the USDP had now accepted defeat, there were nonetheless serious “voter list errors” across the country.
“It was worse than usual,” she told journalists after submitting a batch of complaints in Naypyitaw on Monday. “The injustice was worse than ever before. That is why the next generation will not accept the emasculation of democratic culture.”
But she added: “We accept the loss.”
“We’re mostly objecting against the NLD. There is rarely any other party,” she said.
The party has submitted complaints for every constituency in Naypyitaw except Zeyar Thiri township, where USDP chair Than Htay won a seat.
It has also filed objections in Magwe region, Kayin state, Ayeyarwady region, northern Shan state, Mandalay region and Tanintharyi region, as well as against the Bago chief minister Win Thein, who was re-elected last month.
Each complaint cost the party 500,000 kyat, a fee that must be paid under election laws to cover court costs and which cannot be reclaimed even if the party wins the dispute.
Election observers reported no major irregularities during the November 8 poll. The USDP originally refused to accept the result, which saw the NLD win an even bigger landslide than in 2015, and demanded it be held again.
The Union Election Commission (UEC) dismissed that demand as “deluded” – and the party later changed its messaging, with spokesperson Nandar Hla Myint arguing late last month the party was not challenging the overall result, just those in some constituencies.
In 2015 the USDP readily conceded defeat, but still filed complaints against 19 winning NLD candidates, all of which it lost. The NLD filed seven complaints and won two.
This year the NLD has filed a complaint against Than Htay after he made racist comments on the campaign trail.
Yin Min Myint Swe said she was confident the party would be able to respond to the complaint and that Than Htay’s remark that he has no “Chinese or Muslims” in his bloodline did not break any rules.
“In my opinion, it is not illegal to do this. But I have heard that a complaint has been filed so it will have to be clarified in court,” she said.
Lawyers involved in submitting the USDP’s complaints said the UEC had set a deadline of December 28 for filing any further objections to the election results.
Out of 1,117 constituencies, the NLD won 920 seats and the USDP won 71 last month.
A UEC official told Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity last week that the commission would release “official information” about the complaints next month.
